Folding napalm land mine



Nov. 20, 1962 M. ROSENTHAL FOLDING NAPALM LAND MINE Filed Jan. 28, 1957 l m F NAPALM EXPLOSIVE CHARGE NAPALM INVENTOR. Manuel Ro?fhal AT ATTORNEY at fiFlC Patented Nov. 20, 1962 3,064,569 FOLDING NAPALM LAND MINE Manuel Rosenthal, (Ihicago, Ul- Tenn Can Co., Fayettesville, Tenn.) Filed Jan. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 636,844 3 Claims. (Cl. 1028) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), sec. 2.56)

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a folding napalm land mine. More particularly, it relates to a land mine container which can be folded for convenience in storage and transportation, and which can be readily assembled and loaded in the field.

An object of this invention is to produce a land mine container for holding a quantity of gelled gasoline fuel in such a way that it can be exploded with the greatest efiect on enemy personnel. In the past, such land mines have usually been improvised from thin steel containers. Frequently they were made from five gallon cans which were filled with napalm and provided with the necessary fuse and contact detonator. The difliculty with such arrangements was the fact that the cans were diflicult to store and to transport and also that the light metal of which the cans were made was easily punctured and distorted. Moreover, the cans being of very light material did not have any tendency to direct the blast, much of which therefore lost its eflect by being blown upwards.

In the present invention these disadvantages are sought to be remedied by providing a heavier container that is fo-ldable and which can be erected and assembled in the field. By using hinged sides, the detonation will cause these to give way and fly out thereby permitting the resulting conflagration to cover a wider area while the sturdy structure of the top and bottom prevent any substantial part of the blast from being diverted upwards. The container is preferably made of steel although other metals and even wood and plastics may be used. The latter materials are especially useful where it is desired to make the structure non-magnetic.

In the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the assembled mine. FIG. 2 shows a section through the mine at 2, 2 of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 shows the mine container in a folded condition. FIG. 4 shows the position of the parts of the mine at the moment of explosion. FIG. 5 shows the details of a form of the linkage between the top and bottom of the mine. FIG. 6 shows a detailed view of the latch holding the hinged sides to the bottom of the mine.

The mine consists basically of a flat, square container having parallel sides with a top 10 and a bottom 12 which are linked together by flexible cross links 14 near the 5 four corners thereof. The sides 16 are hinged to the top at 18 and are attached to the bottom by means of latches 20. A handle 22 is afiixed to the top of the mine for convenience in carrying. When the mine container is in storage it is folded in a manner shown in FIG. 3. By unlatching the sides and spreading them out as shown, the flexible links 14' will permit the cover to be laid load down over the base 12. The sides 16 may again be folded back over the top to reduce the area needed for storage. A large number of these containers can be stored in a small area and are easily transported. When they are to be used in the field they can readily be put into position by suspending the mine from the handle and latching the sides to the base. In placing such a mine, it is convenient to load it with two or more flexible bags of napalm material and placing an explosive charge between the bags. The necessary contact detonator is connected to the explosive charge in the usual manner of land mines. When the explosive charge is set oil, the sides of the container are blown out and the gelled fuel which has already been ignited is blown out sideways over a large area. By making the top and bottom sufliciently sturdy and including strong links 14, it is possible to keep the top and bottom intact during the explosion. This construction makes a mine structure that is much more effective than those customarily used heretofore.

I claim:

1. A folding land mine casing comprising rectangular top and bottom sections securely linked together substantially parallel by means of a plurality of substantially parallel links spaced apart between said top and bottom sections, side sections hinged to each of the edges of one of said top and bottom sections and being relcasably latched to the respective edges of said other section, said latches serving to hold the sides in position and to permit them to swing outward upon the detonation of an explosive charge within.

2. A structure in accordance with claim 1 wherein the links connecting said top and bottom sections are composed of a rigid central portion which is flexibly linked to the top and bottom sections.

3. A folding napalm land mine comprising a casing, an explosive charge including a charge of napalm in said casing, said casing comprising rectangular top and bottom sections securely linked together substantially parallel by means of a plurality of substantially parallel links spaced apart between said top and bottom sections, side sections hinged to each of the edges of one of said top and bottom sections and being reeasably latched to the respective edges of said other section, said latches serving to hold the sides in position and to permit them to swing outward upon the detonation of an explosive charge within.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 696,243 Johnston Mar. 25, 1902 1,064,328 Howell et al June 10, 1913 2,320,903 Archer June 1, 1943 2,630,066 Ponder et a1 Mar. 3, 1953 

